The present invention relates to a bifurcated method to process an aloe whole leaf. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method to process an aloe whole leaf by processing the aloe fillet and the aloe rind separately and subsequently combine the products from these separate processes, and the use of the final combined product
Aloe is a tropical or subtropical plant characterized by lance-shaped leaves with jagged edges and sharp points.
When an aloe vera leaf is sliced transversely, it will reveal the outer walls of the epidermis covered with thick cuticles. Beneath the epidermis is the mesophyll which is differentiated into chlorenchyma cells and thinner walled cells known as parenchyma. The parenchyma cells harbor a transparent mucilaginous jelly. The vascular bundles with inner bundle sheath cells contain the yellow sap having laxative properties and are sandwiched between the two major cells. Aloe vera contains two major liquid sources, a yellow latex (exudate) and the clear gel (mucilage). The mucilaginous jelly from the parenchyma cells of the plant is referred to as aloe vera gel. Thus, there are broadly three distinct portions of the aloe vera leave: (1) Yellow sap, mainly anthraquinones; (2) internal gel matrix or the "fillet"; and (3) the "rind" which consists of outer rinds, tips, bases and thorns.
Whole leaves, exudates and fresh gels of aloe plants have been used for a variety of human afflictions. For centuries, the aloe vera plant has been considered to have, and has been used for its, medicinal and therapeutic properties without any clear understanding or scientific analysis of the bases for such properties. Further, it is known that the biological activities of fresh aloe plant decay very rapidly.
Because of this lack of knowledge about the aloe plant and its characteristics, most methods employed for the processing of the plant result in end products which do not consistently achieve desired results. Further, aloe leaves contain anthraquinones in its yellow sap. The anthraquinone-containing yellow sap is known to have a laxative effect with a reputation as an extremely irritating cathartic.
Traditionally, people have either processed the whole aloe leaf or processed only the fillet and discarded the rind. It is believed, however, that both the aloe fillet and the aloe rind contain bioactive materials. Thus, by discarding the rind, one may be discarding some bioactive materials from the whole leaf of the aloe vera.
Traditional "whole-leaf" processes for the production of various aloe products typically involved crushing (pressure rollers), grinding (e.g., use of Thompson aloe leaf slitter), or pressing (TCX pressure extruder) of the entire leaf of the aloe plant to produce an aloe vera juice, followed by various steps of filtration and stabilization of the juice. The resulting mixture is then incorporated in, or mixed with, other solutions or agents to produce the products which could be, for example, a cosmetic, a health food drink, or a topical ointment.
Typically, in a "whole-leaf" process for the production of aloe product suitable for making beverages is to crush and grind a washed aloe whole leaf to obtain the thick liquid. In this process, the rind is not separated from the fillet of the aloe leaf. The cellulose fibers are then removed by filtration. Then an enzyme, such as a cellulase or mannosidase, is added to the stabilized aloe liquid to "digest" the cellulose. This "digestion" step is necessary to reduce the very high viscosity that the liquid bears. High viscosity, or thick, liquid tends to leave an unpleasant feeling in the mouth. Then charcoal is added to the "digested" aloe liquid to decolorize the liquid and to remove aloin and anthraquinones that have laxative effects. The charcoal is then removed by filtration. The filtered aloe liquid is then pasteurized at high temperature. The remaining aloe liquid, obtained from the leaf in its entirety, is then stabilized with a preservative, such as sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, Vitamin E, hydrogen peroxide, sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfite, or others. The resultant liquid is then concentrated to reduce the amount of water. Alternatively, almost all of the water is removed to yield a powder.
Unfortunately, because of improper processing procedures, many of these so-called aloe products contain very little or no bioactive chemical substances or ingredients. In a typical "whole-leaf" process, the rind and the fillet of the aloe leaf are processed together, and the resultant liquid is subjected to a number of steps that are detrimental to many of the bioactive chemical substances naturally present in the fillet of the leaf. For example, either one of the "enzymatic digestion," the charcoal treatment, and the pasteurization can destroy or eliminate the naturally occurring bioactive chemical substances or ingredients present in the fillet of the aloe leaf.
The principal disadvantage of such state of the art processes is the failure to recognize, and to take into account, that different fractions and components of the aloe leaf have different kinds of biological activities. These different fractions have characteristics that may not only be inconsistent with the intended use of the final product, but in many instances were deleterious to such use. Further, unless carefully controlled processes are used in processing the leaves of the aloe plant, the active chemical substances, or ingredients, of the leaves are destroyed during the process.
Aloe vera leaves contain a variety of chemical substances and components. Mixtures of active chemical substances of aloe leaves have been identified, isolated and stabilized as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,735,935, 4,851,224, 4,917,890, 4,957,907, 4,959,214, and 4,966,892, the content of each of these is incorporated herein by reference. One group of the active chemical substances has been referred to as aloe vera mucilaginous polysaccharides. Even the aloe vera mucilaginous polysaccharides are made up of a mixture of polysaccharides. The term "polysaccharides" has been used loosely to include both oligomers and polymers of carbohydrates. A group of such polysaccharides has been given the name acemannan. Acemannan is an ordered linear polymer of substantially acetylated mannose monomers.
The biological, or physiological, activities of aloe vera mucilaginous polysaccharides and their pharmaceutical applications have been the object of numerous research studies at a number of laboratories, including Carrington Laboratories. Uses of aloe products have been described in U.S. Patent Nos. Carrington's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,106,616, 5,118,673, 5,308,838, 5,409,703, 5,441,943, and 5,443,830, each assigned to Carrington Laboratories, Inc., the content of each of which is incorporated by reference herein. These studies have primarily focused on the activities of bioactive chemical substances of aloe vera as antiviral agents, antitumor agents, immunostimulants, immunomodulators, vaccine adjuvants, means of reducing opportunistic infections, means of controlling inflammation, and means of stimulating the wound healing processes.
Aloe vera mucilaginous polysaccharides have been shown in controlled studies to increase the rate of healing in animals. Aloe vera mucilaginous polysaccharides have also been shown to be an effective treatment for gastric ulcers in animal studies.
Acemannan, for example, has been shown in laboratory studies to increase up to 300% in 48 hours the replication of fibroblasts in tissue culture which are known to be responsible for healing burns, ulcers and other wounds of the skin and of the gastrointestinal lining.
Over a three year period, laboratory rats, the stomachs of which react similarly to that of humans, were tested. Acemannan was found to be equivalent to or superior to current medications used for the treatment of gastric ulcers. Most such products act to inhibit hydrochloric acid in the stomach. Acemannan works on a different principle and does not alter the natural flow of digestive acids.
In view of the known wide spectrum of biological activities possessed by leaves of aloe plant, and in view of the known complex mixtures of biologically active components and substances found in the leaves of aloe plant, it is desirable to be able to process an aloe whole leaf with the aim of retaining essentially every bioactive component of the aloe vera leaf. A need has arisen for a simple and effective method to process the aloe vera whole leaf and whose process preserves and maintains almost all of the bioactive chemical entities naturally present in the aloe whole leaf.